Information may be displayed on a screen at various levels of magnification. For example, a digital image may be shown at a reduced resolution relative to the original resolution of the digital image, such that a viewer of the reduced resolution digital image cannot determine details that are apparent to a viewer of the digital image at the original resolution. To assist a viewer of a reduced resolution digital image that is shown on a screen, a software application may provide functionality to enable the viewer to view a magnified portion of the digital image.
In one approach, a viewer may position a pointer over a digital image shown on a screen to cause a magnified view of a portion of the digital image to appear in a box in a fixed location on the screen. This approach is disadvantageous in that the box may cover part of the digital image. Additionally, since the box is in a fixed position on the screen, the viewer may find moving the pointer, while at the same time watching the magnified view of the digital image, to be awkward. Moreover, the pointer itself may obscure an area of interest on the digital image that the viewer wishes to view at a magnified level, which may impede the user's ability to locate the area of interest.
Certain text editors may allow the user to change the level of magnification at which a document is currently being displayed. This approach is disadvantageous because the change of magnification occurs instantaneous, and as a result, the user may become disoriented as to what he or she is viewing after a change in magnification. Further, the entire document is displayed at the same magnification level, and so it is not possible to view the “big picture,” while inspecting a portion of the document at a higher level of magnification.
Certain first-person shooter games, such as Halo, enable a user to magnify a portion of a screen by simulating the use of a scoped rifle, e.g., a sniper rifle. In such programs, looking through the scope of a sniper rifle is simulated by showing a circle (corresponding to the scope) on the screen that encloses a magnified view of a certain area of the screen. Nothing else is shown on the screen except the circle that represents the sniper scope. The circle representing the sniper scope remains in a fixed position, although the user may change what portion of the screen is shown in the circle. This approach for viewing magnified portions of a screen is not appropriate or helpful when one wishes to view the magnified portion of the screen at the same time as other portions of the screen. For example, one may wish to view a magnified portion of a screen in context with the unmagnified portions of the screen.
Consequently, there is a need in the art to improve how one may view magnified portions of a screen without incurring the disadvantages of the above-described approaches. The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but have not necessarily been previously conceived or been pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.